Apparatus and method for controlling a display

ABSTRACT

An apparatus for controlling a display includes a controller to set a relationship index indicating relationship between selected content, which is selected through an input of a user, of the at least one content, and remaining content of the at least one content, and arrange an output screen of the output device, based on the relationship index, such that content useful to a user as well as content desired by the user is determined and provided, thereby improving the convenience of the user.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application claims the benefit of priority to Korean PatentApplication No. 10-2020-0144699, filed in the Korean IntellectualProperty Office on Nov. 2, 2020, the entire contents of which areincorporated herein by reference.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present disclosure relates to an apparatus and a method forcontrolling a display.

BACKGROUND

Studies and research have been carried out regarding how a displayprovides information and how to most effectively provide information toa user. In general, a display may provide information selected through auser input. Since the general display provides only limited informationto the user, there is needed to develop a technology capable providingvarious types of information.

SUMMARY

The present disclosure has been made to solve the above-mentionedproblems occurring in the prior art while maintaining advantagesachieved by the prior art.

An aspect of the present disclosure provides an apparatus and a methodfor controlling a display capable of determining and providing contentuseful to a user, as well as providing content corresponding to theinput of the user.

The technical problems to be solved by the present disclosure are notlimited to the aforementioned problems. Any other technical problems notmentioned herein should be clearly understood from the followingdescription by those having ordinary skill in the art to which thepresent disclosure pertains.

According to an aspect of the present disclosure, an apparatus forcontrolling a display may include a controller and an output device tooutput at least one content. The controller sets a relationship indexindicating the relationship between selected content, which is selectedthrough an input of a user of the at least one content, and remainingcontent of the at least one content, and arranges an output screen ofthe output device, based on the relationship index.

The controller may output the selected content, which is selectedthrough the input of the user, to a main screen which is set in anentire portion of the output screen.

The controller may dispose at least one sub-screen at one side of themain screen by splitting a specific region of the main screen whencontent having a relationship index of a specific value or more ispresent and output the content having the relationship index of thespecific value or more to the sub-screen.

The controller may adjust down the relationship index when the contentoutput to the sub-screen is output-cancelled by the input of the user.

The controller may prevent content, which has a relationship indexchanged to be less than the specific value, from being output to thesub-screen when the relationship index is consecutively adjusted down tobe less than the specific value.

The controller may adjust up a relationship index of content when thecontent is added by the input of the user.

The controller may dispose an additional sub-screen by further splittinga specific region of the main screen, when the relationship index isconsecutively adjusted up such that the relationship index is thespecific value or more, and output content having the relationship indexchanged to the specific value or more to the additionally-disposedsub-screen.

The controller may cancel disposing the sub-screen when the main screenand the sub-screen output the same content.

The controller may output the content having the relationship index ofthe specific value or more to the sub-screen, when the main screen andthe sub-screen output the same content.

The controller may learn positions in which the main screen and thesub-screen are disposed.

According to another aspect of the present disclosure, a method forcontrolling a display may include setting a relationship indexindicating a relationship between selected content, which is selectedthrough an input of a user of at least one content, and remainingcontent of the at least one content, and arranging an output screen ofthe output device, based on the relationship index.

The method may further include outputting the selected contentcorresponding to the input of the user, to a main screen which is set inan entire portion of the output screen.

At least one sub-screen may be disposed at one side of the main screenby splitting a specific region of the main screen, when content having arelationship index of a specific value or more is present, and thecontent having the relationship index of the specific value or more maybe output to the sub-screen.

The method may further include adjusting down the relationship indexwhen the content output to the sub-screen is output-cancelled by theinput of the user.

Content, which has a relationship index changed to be less than thespecific value, may be prevented from being output to the sub-screen,when the relationship index is consecutively adjusted down to be lessthan the specific value.

The method may further include adjusting up a relationship index ofcontent when the content is added by the input of the user.

A sub-screen may be additionally disposed by further splitting aspecific region of the main screen, when the relationship index isconsecutively adjusted up such that the relationship index is thespecific value or more, and content having the relationship indexchanged to the specific value or more may be disposed to the additionalsub-screen.

Disposing the sub-screen may be canceled when the main screen and thesub-screen output the same content.

The content having the relationship index of the specific value or moremay be output to the sub-screen, when the main screen and the sub-screenoutput the same content.

The method may further include learning positions in which the mainscreen and the sub-screen are disposed.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The above and other objects, features, and advantages of the presentdisclosure should be more apparent from the following detaileddescription taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings:

FIG. 1 is a view illustrating a configuration of an apparatus forcontrolling a display, according to an embodiment of the presentdisclosure;

FIG. 2 is a view schematically illustrating a manner of setting acontent relationship index, according to an embodiment of the presentdisclosure;

FIG. 3 is a view illustrating a relationship index of content setaccording to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 4A, FIG. 4B, and FIG. 4C are views illustrating manners ofarranging screens, according to embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 5 is a view illustrating a relationship index changed, according toan embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 6A, FIG. 6B, FIG. 7A, and FIG. 7B are views illustrating a mannerof disposing screens, based on a relationship index changed, accordingto another embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 8A, FIG. 8B, FIG. 8C, and FIG. 8D are views illustrating a mannerof disposing a screen, according to another embodiment of the presentdisclosure;

FIG. 9 is a flowchart illustrating a method for controlling a display,according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 10 is a flowchart illustrating a method for controlling a display,according to an embodiment of the present disclosure; and

FIG. 11 is a block diagram illustrating a computing system to executethe method according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Hereinafter, some embodiments of the present disclosure are described indetail with reference to the drawings. In adding the reference numeralsto the components of each drawing it should be noted that the identicalor equivalent component is designated by the identical numeral even whenthey are displayed on other drawings. Further, in describing theembodiments of the present disclosure, a detailed description ofwell-known features or functions has been omitted in order not tounnecessarily obscure the gist of the present disclosure.

In addition, in the following description of components according to anembodiment of the present disclosure, the terms ‘first’, ‘second’, ‘A’,‘B’, ‘(a)’, and ‘(b)’ may be used. These terms are merely intended todistinguish one component from another component, and the terms do notlimit the nature, sequence, or order of the constituent components. Inaddition, unless otherwise defined, all terms used herein, includingtechnical or scientific terms, have the same meanings as those generallyunderstood by those having ordinary skill in the art to which thepresent disclosure pertains. Such terms as those defined in a generallyused dictionary are to be interpreted as having meanings consistent withthe contextual meanings in the relevant field of art. Such terms are notto be interpreted as having ideal or excessively formal meanings unlessclearly defined as having such in the present application.

FIG. 1 is a view illustrating a configuration of an apparatus forcontrolling a display, according to an embodiment of the presentdisclosure.

As illustrated in FIG. 1 , according to an embodiment of the presentdisclosure, an apparatus 100 for controlling a display may include asensor 110, an input device 120, an output device 130, and a controller140.

The sensor 110 may acquire surrounding information and location changeinformation. According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, thesensor 110 may include a temperature sensor, an illuminance sensor, anda rain sensor, and the controller 140 may determine information on anexternal environment (e.g., weather) based on information obtained bythe sensor 110. According to an embodiment of the present disclosure,the sensor 110 may include a location sensor, for example, a GPSreceiving device, and may receive a current location. The controller 140may provide information on a map image of a specific region, based oninformation on the current location, information on a direction guide toa destination when the user inputs the destination, and information onthe destination.

The input device 120 may receive, depending on a manipulation, anoperation, or a voice of the user, relevant input signals, and mayreceive user information, according to an embodiment. In this case, theuser information may include a personal schedule or personal information(taste information) of the user. The controller 140 may activate contentcorresponding to an input signal. According to an embodiment of thepresent disclosure, the input device 120 may be implemented with ascroll wheel, a button, a knob, a touch screen, a touch pad, a lever, ora track ball, or may be implemented with at least one of a motion sensorand a voice recognizing sensor to sense the motion of the user or thevoice of the user, or the combination thereof.

The output device 130 may visually output content and be activated inresponse to an input signal and at least one content determined by thecontroller 140. According to an embodiment, the output device 130 may beimplemented with a display, and for example, may include a head updisplay (HUD) or a cluster provided in a vehicle. However, the presentdisclosure is not limited thereto, and may include a TV and a videoadvertisement board constituting a screen. The content may includeinformation which may be output through the output device 130 and may beprovided to the user. According to an embodiment, the content mayinclude media, a map, weather, sports, a schedule, an air conditioning,a compass, or a clock.

The controller 140 may be implemented with various processing devices,such as a microprocessor embedded therein with a semiconductor chip tooperate or execute various instructions. The controller 140 may controlthe overall operation of the apparatus for controlling the display,according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. In detail, thecontroller 140 may set a relationship index indicating the relationshipbetween content, i.e., a selected content, which is selected through theinput of the user of at least one content, and remaining content of theat least one content, and may arrange output screens of the outputdevice 130, based on the relationship index.

According to an embodiment, the controller 140 may output selectedcontent selected by the user to a main screen which, is set in theentire portion of the output device 130. In addition, the controller 140may split a specific region of the main screen into at least one region,and may generate at least one split region as a sub-screen such that thesub-screen is disposed at one side of the main screen, when there ispresent at least one content having the relationship index, whichindicates the relationship with the content selected by the user and isequal to or greater than a specific value. In addition, the controller140 may output at least one content, which has the relationship index ofa specific value or more, to the sub-screen. Hereinafter, therelationship index is described in more detail with reference to FIG. 2.

FIG. 2 is a view schematically illustrating a manner of setting acontent relationship index, according to an embodiment of the presentdisclosure. According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, themanner of setting the relationship index in FIG. 2 is performed based ona current time point. In other words, the controller 140 may set arelationship index for at least one content set forth in a first row ofthe right side, when any one content set forth in a first column of theleft side is content selected by the user at the current time point.

According to an embodiment, the controller 140 may set the relationshipindex between media content and map content as a default value (e.g.,5), when the media content (e.g., music) is output to the main screen bythe selection of the user. In addition, the controller 140 may determinethat a category of media desired by the user is varied depending onweather and may set the relationship index between the media content andthe weather content to be ‘8’. In addition, the controller 140 maydetermine that the user may want to listen to exciting music or a teamfight song or alma mater. The controller 140 may thus set therelationship index between the media content and the sports content tobe ‘7’, when a sports team supported by the user has a good performance.In addition, the controller 140 may set the relationship index betweenthe media content and schedule content to be ‘3’ when determining thatthe user wants to concentrate on something, based on the futureschedule. In addition, the controller 140 may set the relationship indexbetween the media content and the air conditioning content to be adefault value. The controller 140 may determine that the compass contenthas no relationship with the clock content and may set the relationshipindex between the media content and the compass content to be ‘2’ or‘3’.

When the user selects map content, weather content, sports content,schedule content, air conditioning content, compass content, or clockcontent provided in the first column of the left side, the controller140 may set the relationship index for at least one content (provided inthe first row of the right side) indicating the relationship with theselected content in the manner as described above. The above-describedrelationship index is provided for the illustrative purpose according tothe embodiment, and may be varied depending on surrounding information,user information, or position change information.

The controller 140 may additionally set the relationship index in themanner of setting the relationship index as in illustrated in FIG. 2 ,when the surrounding information, the user information, or the positionchange information is changed, as a specific time is elapsed.Additionally, setting the relationship index is described with referenceto FIG. 3 .

FIG. 3 is a view illustrating a relationship index of content setaccording to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

As illustrated in FIG. 3 , the controller 140 may set the relationshipindex for at least one content set forth in the first row of the rightside, when any one content in the first column of the right side isselected by the user, after setting the relationship index in the manneras illustrated in FIG. 2 .

According to an embodiment, the controller 140 may set the relationshipindex between the map content and the media content to be a defaultvalue (e.g., 5), when the map content is disposed on the main screen bythe selection of the user. In addition, the controller 140 may set therelationship index between the map content and the weather content to be‘8’ since an arrival time based on path setting is influenced byweather. In addition, the controller 140 may re-set the relationshipindex between the map content and the sports content to be ‘8’, whendetermining that the user is close to a stadium where the game of theteam that the user wants to watch is being played. In addition, thecontroller 140 may set the relationship index between the map contentand the schedule content to be ‘9’, when a schedule is to watch thegame, and when it is determined that the user is close to the stadiumwherein the game is being played. The controller 140 may set therelationship index between the map content and the air conditioningcontent to be ‘3’, since there is no relationship with the airconditioning content. The controller 140 may set the relationship indexbetween the map content and the compass content to be ‘7’ since aprogressing direction has a relationship with a direction of east, west,south, or north. In addition, the controller 140 may set therelationship index between the map content and the clock content to be‘6’ since there is the relationship with the arrival time at thedestination.

When the user selects map content, weather content, sports content,schedule content, air conditioning content, compass content, or clockcontent provided in the first column of the right side, the controller140 may set the relationship index for at least one content (provided inthe first row of the left side) indicating the relationship with theselected content in the manner as described above. The above-describedrelationship index is provided for the illustrative purpose according tothe embodiment, and may be varied depending on surrounding information,user information, or position change information.

The controller 140 may output content having a relationship index of aspecific value or more to the sub-screen disposed as a specific regionof the split main screen. The details thereof are described below withreference to FIGS. 4A-4C.

FIG. 4A, FIG. 4B, and FIG. 4C are views illustrating manners ofarranging screens, according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

The controller 140 may output air conditioning content to a main screenset in the output screen (not shown but similar to FIG. 8C), when theair conditioning content is determined as being selected by the user. Asshown in FIG. 4A, the controller 140 may dispose a sub-screen at oneside of the main screen, and may output content, such as weather content(see ‘A’ of FIG. 2 ) to the sub-screen having the relationship index ofthe specific value or more.

The controller 140 may output, to the sub-screen, content having therelationship index of the specific value or more with the sportscontent, when the content selected by the user is changed from the airconditioning content to the sports content. To this end, according to anembodiment, as illustrated in FIG. 4B, the controller 140 may output thesports content to the main screen set in the entire portion of theoutput screen. In addition, the controller 140 may dispose sub-screens,which are generated as the specific region of the main screen is split,at one side of the main screen, and may output content (that is, weathercontent (see ‘A’ of FIG. 2 ) and schedule content (see ‘B’ of FIG. 2 ))having the relationship index of the specific value (e.g., ‘8’) or moreto the sub-screens disposed at one side of the main screen.

Meanwhile, when the surrounding information, the user information, orthe position change information is changed as the specific time iselapsed, for example, when it is determined that the user becomes closerto a stadium where the game of the team that the user wants to watch isbeing played, the controller 140 sets the relationship index between themap content and the sports content by changing the relationship indexfrom the relationship index of ‘5’ (see ‘C’ of FIG. 3 ), which is set atthe initial stage, to the relationship index of ‘8’ (see ‘D’ of FIG. 3). Accordingly, as illustrated in FIG. 4C, the controller 140 may addmap content, which is set to the specific value or more in therelationship index with the sports content, at the time point that thespecific time is elapsed. To this end, the controller 140 may furthersplit the specific region of the main screen to additionally generatethe sub-screen and may dispose the additionally generated sub-screen atone side of the sub-screen which is previously generated. In addition,the controller 140 may output the map content to the additionallydisposed sub-screen.

The controller 140 may change the relationship index depending on theinput of the user, in addition to changing and setting the relationshipindex after a specific time has elapsed. The details thereof aredescribed below with reference to FIG. 5 .

FIG. 5 is a view illustrating the relationship index having changed,according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

As illustrated in FIG. 5 , the controller 140 may output content, whichis selected by the user, to the main screen and may output, to thesub-screen, content, which has the relationship index of the specificvalue or more with the content selected by the user. The controller 140may adjust down the preset relationship index, when the user inputscancelling the output of the sub-screen disposed as described above.

For example, the controller 140 may output, to the main screen, the mapcontent, when the user selects the map content. In addition, thecontroller 140 may output, to the sub-screen, content havingrelationship with the map content and having the relationship index ofthe specific value or more in the relationship index with the mapcontent. According to an embodiment, the controller 140 may output, tothe sub-screen, the weather content (see ‘E’ of FIG. 5 : relationshipindex of ‘8’), and schedule content (see ‘F’ of FIG. 5 : relationshipindex of ‘9’).

The controller 140 may adjust down the relationship index of specificcontent (relationship index of ‘9’→relationship index of ‘8’), whencancelling output is input with respect to some of content which isoutput to the sub-screen. Accordingly, the controller 140 may set therelationship index between the map content and the specific content to‘8’ in ignition ‘ON’ after ignition ‘OFF’.

For example, the controller 140 may output, to the main screen, the mapcontent, when the user selects the map content after ignition ‘ON’. Inaddition, the controller 140 may output, to the sub-screen, contenthaving relationship with the map content and having the relationshipindex of the specific value or more with the map content. According toan embodiment, the controller 140 may output, to the sub-screen, theweather content (see ‘G’ of FIG. 5 : relationship index of ‘8’), andschedule content (see ‘H’ of FIG. 5 : relationship index of ‘8’).

The controller 140 may adjust down the relationship index of specificcontent (relationship index of ‘8’→relationship index of ‘7’), whencancelling outputting is input with respect to some of content which isoutput to the sub-screen. Accordingly, the controller 140 may set therelationship index between the map content and the specific content to‘7’ in ignition ‘ON’ after ignition ‘OFF’. In this case, the controller140 may prevent content having the relationship index of less than thespecific value from being output to the sub-screen. The details thereofare described below with reference to FIG. 6A and FIG. 6B.

To the contrary, the controller 140 may output content, which isselected by the user, to the main screen, and may output content, whichhas the relationship index of the specific value or more, to thesub-screen. In this case, when it is determined that the content havingthe relationship index of less than the specific value is output to thesub-screen additionally disposed by the input of the user, thecontroller 140 may adjust up the relationship index of the content whichis output to the sub-screen additionally disposed (see ‘I’ of FIG. 5 :change relationship index of ‘7’→relationship index of ‘8’). In thiscase, the controller 140 may prevent content having the relationshipindex of the specific value or more from being output to the sub-screen.The details thereof are described below with reference to FIG. 7A, andFIG. 7B.

FIG. 6A, FIG. 6B, FIG. 7A, and FIG. 7B are views illustrating a mannerfor disposing screens, based on the relationship index changed,according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

As illustrated in FIG. 6A and FIG. 6B, the controller 140 outputs mapcontent to the main screen, and outputs content (weather content andschedule content) having the relationship index of the specific value ormore to the sub-screen, as the user selects the map content. In thiscase, when the user consecutively inputs cancelling the output of somecontent, the controller 140 may adjust down the relationship index ofsome content. When the relationship index is consecutively adjusteddown, such that the relationship index of the some content becomes lessthan the specific value, the controller 140 may prevent the some contentfrom being output to the sub-screen, even if the user selects the mapcontent.

As illustrated in FIG. 7A and FIG. 7B, the controller 140 outputs mapcontent to the main screen, and outputs content (weather content andschedule content) having the relationship index of the specific value ormore to the sub-screen, as the user selects the map content. In thiscase, when the user consecutively inputs cancelling the output ofcompass content, the controller 140 may adjust up the relationship indexof the compass content. When the relationship index is consecutivelyadjusted up such that the relationship index of the compass contentbecomes equal to or greater than the specific value, the controller 140may further split the specific region of the main screen, mayadditionally dispose a sub-screen, and may output the compass content tothe additionally-disposed sub-screen. Accordingly, the controller 140may output, to the sub-screen, the weather content, the schedulecontent, and the compass content together, when the user selects the mapcontent.

The controller 140 may cancel disposing the sub-screen, and fully outputthe main screen, or may change the content on the sub-screen to anothercontent to be displayed to the sub-screen, when the same content isoutput to the main screen and the sub-screen. The details thereof aredescribed below with reference to FIG. 8A, FIG. 8B, FIG. 8C, and FIG.8D.

FIG. 8A, FIG. 8B, FIG. 8C, and FIG. 8D are views illustrating a mannerof disposing a screen, according to another embodiment of the presentdisclosure.

As illustrated in FIG. 8A, FIG. 8B, FIG. 8C, and FIG. 8D, as the userselects the map content, the controller 140 may output, to the mainscreen, the map content, and may output content (weather content) havingrelationship with the map content to a sub-screen split from the mainscreen and disposed at one side of the main screen (see FIG. 8A). Whenthe user selects the weather content in the state of FIG. 8A, thecontroller 140 may output the weather content to the main screen (seeFIG. 8B). When it is determined that the weather content is output tothe main content and the sub-content, the controller 140 may canceldisposing the sub-screen and may fully output the main screen (see FIG.8C). Alternatively, the controller 140 may change the content output tothe sub-screen to content (e.g., sports content and air conditioningcontent) having relationship with the weather content which is output tothe main screen and may output the changed content (see FIG. 8D).

In addition, the controller 140 may adjust positions, at which the mainscreen and the sub-screen are disposed, on the output screen, dependingon the input of the user, and may learn the positions at which the mainscreen and the sub-screen are disposed.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart illustrating a method controlling a display,according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

As illustrated in FIG. 9 , the controller 140 may output content, whichis selected by the user, to the main screen (S110). In S110, thecontroller 140 may output content, which is selected by the input of theuser, to the main screen set in the entire portion of the output screen.

The controller 140 may output content, which is set to have therelationship index of a specific value or more, to a sub-screen, whichis disposed as the specific region of the main screen is split, based onthe relationship index indicating the relationship with the contentoutput to the main screen (S120). According to an embodiment, in S120,the controller 140 may split a specific region of the main screen intoat least one region, and may generate at least one split region as asub-screen such that the sub-screen is disposed at one side of the mainscreen, when there is present at least one content having therelationship index, which indicates the relationship with the contentselected by the user and is equal to or greater than a specific value.In addition, the controller 140 may output at least one content, whichhas the relationship index of the specific value or more to thesub-screen. In this case, the more detailed manner of setting therelationship index may be understood by referring to the descriptionwith reference to FIGS. 2, 3, and 5 . The detailed manner of disposingthe sub-screen and the output of the content may be understood byreferring to the description with reference to FIGS. 4 and 6 .

FIG. 10 is a flowchart illustrating a method for controlling a display,according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

As illustrated in FIG. 10 , the control device 140 may output content,which is selected by the user, to the main screen, and may output, tothe sub-screen, content having the relationship index of the specificvalue or more with the content selected by the user. In addition, thecontroller 140 may determine whether the user modifies the sub-screen(S210).

In S210, the controller 140 may adjust down the preset relationshipindex, when the user inputs cancelling the output of the sub-screen(S220). Meanwhile, the controller 140 may adjust up the relationshipindex of content, which is output to the additionally-disposedsub-screen, when it is determined that content, which has therelationship index of less than the specific value, is output to theadditionally-disposed sub-screen by the input of the user (S230).

The controller 140 may determine the output state of the sub-screen,based on the changed relationship index (S240). When the relationshipindex is set to less than the specific value, as the relationship indexis consecutively adjusted down by the input of the user in S220, thecontroller 140 may prevent the content having the relationship index ofless than the specific value from being output to the sub-screen inS240. The details thereof may be understood by referring to thedescription with reference to FIG. 6A and FIG. 6B. In addition, when therelationship index is set to the specific value or more, as therelationship index is consecutively adjusted up by the input of the userin S230, the controller 140 may output the content, which is selected bythe user, to the sub-screen, which is disposed by splitting the specificregion of the main screen to output the content selected. The detailsthereof may be understood by referring to the description with referenceto FIG. 7A and FIG. 7B.

FIG. 11 is a block diagram illustrating a computing system to executethe method according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

Referring to FIG. 11 , a computing system 1000 may include at least oneprocessor 1100, a memory 1300, a user interface input device 1400, auser interface output device 1500, a storage 1600, and a networkinterface 1700, which are connected with each other via a bus 1200.

The processor 1100 may be a central processing unit (CPU) or asemiconductor device for processing instructions stored in the memory1300 and/or the storage 1600. Each of the memory 1300 and the storage1600 may include various types of volatile or non-volatile storagemedia. For example, the memory 1300 may include a read only memory (ROM;see 1310) and a random access memory (RAM; see 1320).

Thus, the operations of the methods or algorithms described inconnection with the embodiments disclosed in the present disclosure maybe directly implemented with a hardware module, a software module, orthe combinations thereof, executed by the processor 1100. The softwaremodule may reside on a storage medium (i.e., the memory 1300 and/or thestorage 1600), such as a RAM, a flash memory, a ROM, an erasable andprogrammable ROM (EPROM), an electrically EPROM (EEPROM), a register, ahard disc, a removable disc, or a compact disc-ROM (CD-ROM). The storagemedium may be coupled to the processor 1100. The processor 1100 may readout information from the storage medium and may write information in thestorage medium. Alternatively, the storage medium may be integrated withthe processor 1100. The processor and storage medium may reside in anapplication specific integrated circuit (ASIC). The ASIC may reside in auser terminal. Alternatively, the processor and storage medium mayreside as separate components of the user terminal.

According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, in the apparatusand the method for controlling the display, since the content useful tothe user may be determined and provided, as well as that content inputby the user is provided the convenience of the user may thereby beimproved.

Hereinabove, although the present disclosure has been described withreference to several embodiments and the accompanying drawings, thepresent disclosure is not limited thereto. The embodiments may bevariously modified and altered by those having ordinary skill in the artto which the present disclosure pertains without departing from thespirit and scope of the present disclosure claimed in the followingclaims.

Therefore, embodiments of the present disclosure are provided to explainthe spirit and scope of the present disclosure, but not to limit them,so that the spirit and scope of the present disclosure is not limited bythe embodiments. The scope of the present disclosure should be construedon the basis of the accompanying claims, and all the technical ideaswithin the scope equivalent to the claims should be included in thescope of the present disclosure.

What is claimed is:
 1. An apparatus for controlling a display, theapparatus comprising: an output device configured to output at least onecontent; and a controller configured to set a relationship indexindicating a relationship between selected content, which is selectedthrough an input of a user of the at least one content, and remainingcontent, which is not selected through the input of the user of the atleast one content, and arrange an output screen of the output device,based on the relationship index, wherein the relationship index is setto increase as a degree that the selected content is related to theremaining content is increased, wherein the controller is configured tooutput the selected content, which is selected through the input of theuser, to a main screen, which is set in an entire portion of the outputscreen, wherein the controller is configured to dispose at least onesub-screen at one side of the main screen by splitting a specific regionof the main screen, when content having a relationship index of aspecific value or more is present, and to output the content having therelationship index of the specific value or more, to the at least onesub-screen, wherein the controller is configured to adjust down therelationship index, when the content output to the at least onesub-screen is output-cancelled by the input of the user, and wherein thecontroller is configured to prevent content, which has a relationshipindex changed to be less than the specific value, from being output tothe at least one sub-screen, when the relationship index isconsecutively adjusted down to be less than the specific value.
 2. Theapparatus of claim 1, wherein the controller is configured to adjust upa relationship index of content when the content is added by the inputof the user.
 3. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein the controller isconfigured to: additionally dispose a sub-screen by further splitting aspecific region of the main screen, when the relationship index isconsecutively adjusted up such that the relationship index is thespecific value or more; and output content having the relationship indexchanged to the specific value or more to the additionally disposedsub-screen.
 4. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the controller isconfigured to cancel disposing the at least one sub-screen when the mainscreen and the at least one sub-screen output the same content.
 5. Theapparatus of claim 1, wherein the controller is configured to output thecontent having the relationship index of the specific value or more tothe at least one sub-screen when the main screen and the at least onesub-screen output the same content.
 6. The apparatus of claim 1, whereinthe controller is configured to learn positions in which the main screenand the at least one sub-screen are disposed.
 7. A method forcontrolling a display, the method comprising: setting a relationshipindex indicating a relationship between selected content, which isselected through an input of a user of at least one content, andremaining content, which is not selected through the input of the userof the at least one content; arranging an output screen of an outputdevice, based on the relationship index; outputting the selectedcontent, which is selected through the input of the user, to a mainscreen, which is set in an entire portion of the output screen; settingthe relationship index to increase as a degree that the selected contentis related to the remaining content is increased; disposing at least onesub-screen at one side of the main screen by splitting a specific regionof the main screen, when content having a relationship index of aspecific value or more is present; outputting the content having therelationship index of the specific value or more to the at least onesub-screen; and adjusting down the relationship index, when the contentoutput to the sub-screen is output-cancelled by the input of the user,wherein content, which has a relationship index changed to be less thanthe specific value, is prevented from being output to the sub-screen,when the relationship index is consecutively adjusted down to be lessthan the specific value.
 8. The method of claim 7, further comprising:adjusting up a relationship index of content when the content is addedby the input of the user.
 9. The method of claim 8, wherein: asub-screen is additionally disposed by further splitting a specificregion of the main screen, when the relationship index is consecutivelyadjusted up such that the relationship index is the specific value ormore; and content having the relationship index changed to the specificvalue or more is disposed to the additionally disposed sub-screen. 10.The method of claim 7, wherein disposing the at least one sub-screen iscanceled when the main screen and the at least one sub-screen output thesame content.
 11. The method of claim 7, wherein the content having therelationship index of the specific value or more is output to the atleast one sub-screen, when the main screen and the at least onesub-screen output the same content.
 12. The method of claim 7, furthercomprising: learning positions in which the main screen and the at leastone sub-screen are disposed.